Doc Rivers’ Contract Extension With Celtics ‘Basically Done’

Rivers and the C’s are putting the finishing touches on a long-term deal, reports the Boston Globe: “Celtics coach Doc Rivers wasn’t acting on emotion Wednesday night when he said he wanted to come back as Celtics coach. He told the Globe tonight that a deal to bring him back was ‘basically done.’ Rivers, who had a one-year option to return next season, is expected to sign a multiyear contract as team president Danny Ainge envisions his coach leading the Celtics through an expected transition period. ‘We have to figure out a couple of things,’ he said. ‘But we’ll get it done relatively quickly. I wanted to get this out of the way so we can concentrate on the summer and free agency. Everything should be done soon. We want to get this done as soon as possible so we can move forward.’ Rivers and the Celtics are still reeling off a five-game elimination in the Eastern Conference semifinals by the Miami Heat. And it was apparent that the Celtics’ veteran players — Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen — were unable to compete down the stretch of games with the duo of Dwyane Wade and LeBron James. ‘We have to surround (the Big Three) with talent,’ he said. ‘Miami is only going to get better. Chicago is only going to get better. To help Kevin, Ray and Paul we just have to add talent. We relied in those three to carry the load for years but we can’t do that as much any more.'”